AERIAL FIREFIGHTING CONFERENCES CO-ORGANIZED WITH GFMC  

Aerial Fire Fighting Europe 2025

25-27 March 2025, Bordeaux, France

Tangent Link, in partnership with the French Ministry of the Interior (and France’s aerial firefighting agency, Sécurité Civile), Aerospace Valley and the Fédération Française des Métiers de l’Incendie (FFMI) are delighted to invite all stakeholders to Bordeaux, France on 25-27 March 2025 for the 27th edition of the global Aerial Firefighting Series. 

“The General Directorate of Civil Security and Crisis Management is pleased that France is hosting the Aerial Fire Fighting Europe in March 2025, and it is with pride that it will be a partner”.

Julien Marion, Director General of Civil Security and Crisis Management, Ministry of the Interior and Overseas

The three-day event will include conference sessions, a trade show and scientific workshops offering industry and practitioners an opportunity to come together to shape the tactics and technologies of the AFF community, and to directly engage with government stakeholders, aerial operators, and technology providers from all over the world.

Updates
Visit Tangent Link conference website: https://tangentlink-events.com/affe25

Conference Partners

AFF Europe 2025 is the 27th edition of the Tangent Link global Aerial Firefighting Serie

GFMC has supported all Aerial Firefighting Conferences since 2008

Please see the web pages of the previous International Aerial Firefighting Conferences, including the conference reports:

 

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GFMC MEETINGS CALENDAR 2024 

I Summit Climate Change and Wildland Fire
I Summit Mudanças Climáticas e Incêndios Florestais

Sao Paulo, Brazil, 27-28 June 2024

Wildfires have been increasing in number, frequency and intensity in various parts of the world, causing the loss of human lives and damage to economies. Public-private players and stakeholders, who adopt effective policies and encourage cooperation between companies, entities, communities and countries, will have a meeting in Itu, São Paulo, Brazil. It is a unique opportunity to listen and to interact with leading international experts, such as the director of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) – on Governance of Integrated Fire Management in Natural and Cultural Landscapes: Global and Latin American Perspectives – and the chair of Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee.

Conference websites:

Contact: clima.incendios@gmail.com 

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AERIAL FIREFIGHTING CONFERENCES CO-ORGANIZED WITH GFMC

06-08 March 2024, Sacramento, California, U.S.A.

Tangent Link’s global Aerial Firefighting series returned to Sacramento, the home of CAL FIRE. 

Thought leading presentations and case studies debated key subjects including Tactics, Training and Technology, bringing together the very best minds in understanding the advances being made in this safety conscious profession.

“Aerial Firefighting North America offers a unique platform for aviation experts to collaborate and engage in thought-provoking conversation. I am confident these opportunities support meaningful outcomes that benefit not only the fire service but also the communities we serve.”

Welcome from Chief Joe Tyler, Director/Fire Chief, CAL FIRE, USA

Aerial Fire Fighting North America 2024 (AFFNA24) attracted 415 attendees from 16 countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, UAE, UK, and the U.S.A.)

Walt Darran Award Winner

Douglas “Bud” Ehrk represents the backbone, and the heart and soul of aerial firefighting. Every day he makes sure that the tankers he is responsible for are fit to fly. It’s the decisions he makes that dictate whether a pilot makes it home in one piece, and it’s his signature on the line and the proven track record that instils the confidence of the aircrews flying the aircraft in his care. Overall, he embodies the spirit of what it means to receive the Walt Darran Award 2024. He, like so many other deserving mechanics, cares for the industry and was awarded for his hard work and dedication.

Photographic Impressions








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WILDFIRE 2024

Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 12-13 November 2024

Wildfire2024 is the UK Wildfire Conference’s bi-annual flagship event, attracting delegates, sponsors, industry experts, scientists and thought-leaders from all over the globe.

This year, our theme is ‘Resilience in a Changing World’ – a focus on the challenges and opportunities we face in light of the climate emergency, changing landscapes and emerging science.

Aberdeen is hosting an international event this November dedicated to wildfires and how, as a global community, we can better prevent, plan and recover from the growing and devastating threat of wildfires and their wider consequences. 

To be held at P&J Live Conference Centre, the conference will explore the theme of “Resilience in a Changing World”. The conference will acknowledge the challenges that changing climate and the behaviours, expectations and attitudes of the public bring to an already complex situation. 

With catastrophic wildfires wreaking havoc in Australia and Chile this February, there is a call for innovative and collaborative approaches to address the growing threat. However, organisers are keen to stress that wildfires are not just a risk to overseas communities. The spate of wildfires across Scotland from March to June 2023 – including many in the Scottish Highlands (Glenluig / Moidart – 3,500ha; Cannich – 1,100ha; Moy 132ha) involved hundreds of firefighters, gamekeepers, foresters and other estate staff and helicopters to tackle the blazes which generated plumes of smoke that were detected by Nasa satellites in space. 

Drawing in speakers, researchers and resilience experts from across the UK and internationally, the UK Wildfire Conference aims to inform and inspire the expected 300 delegates who will come from a diversity of backgrounds and interest groups. 

Conference host The Scottish Wildfire Forum, together with event facilitators The Heather Trust, are ensuring the content will appeal not just to firefighters, but also land managers, regulatory and enforcement agencies, academics, environmental groups, community leaders, planners and more.

Conference website: https://wildfire2024.co.uk/

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GFMC MEETINGS CALENDAR 2024

7th Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference

15-19 April 2024, simultaneously in Boise, Idaho, U.S.A., Canberra, Australia, and Tralee, Ireland

The 7th Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference is scheduled simultaneously in Boise, Idaho, U.S.A., Canberra, Australia, and Tralee, Ireland

Fuel, Fire and Smoke: Evolving to Meet Our Climate Challenge

Wildfires present an increasing challenge to humanity and the ecosystems and atmosphere we depend on. The ability of societies to respond to larger and more destructive wildfire events and mitigate against further climate impacts is also increasingly challenged. As our climate changes, and the effects are experienced in unique ways across diverse settings and societies, understanding fire behavior and human responses to this is even more critical. 

The 7th International Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference offers a forum where past fire management experience and lessons learned are documented, current work showcased, and emerging research, innovation and techniques on fire management shared, towards developing integrated solutions to these challenges.

This conference on three continents provides an opportunity to showcase how different countries can implement newly developed fire management policies and frameworks at national, regional and local levels to address fire risks and build resilience.  The Conference will unite policy makers, scientists, fire managers and Indigenous land stewards for a shared purpose and a different future living with fire.

The call for presentations is now open, each location has the opportunity to submit your presentation proposal. The deadline to submit is 15 October 2023.

Conference website: https://firebehaviorandfuelsconference.com/

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AERIAL FIREFIGHTING CONFERENCES CO-ORGANIZED WITH GFMC 

Aerial Fire Fighting Europe 2023

16-17 October 2023, Athens, Greece

After the first Aerial Firefighting Conference, held in Greece in 2008, the Tangent Link Aerial Firefighting series returns to Greece for 2023, the leading event for Aerial Firefighting professionals in Europe. The two-day conference and exhibition will provide a platform for AFF specialists to debate and present on current aerial fighting challenges in Europe, with an emphasis on Southern and Eastern Europe/Mediterranean stakeholders. The conference will be co-chaired by Zisoula Ntasiou (National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management, Hellenic Fire Corps) and Johann Georg Goldammer (Director, Global Fire Monitoring Center).

Tangent Link are delighted to invite all stakeholders to this forum to directly engage with government experts, aerial operators, and technology providers from all over the world. The event is supported by the Greek Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

Venue and Agenda

  • AFF Europe 2023 will be held at Grand Resort Lagonissi, situated on the Athenian Riviera. It is close to Athens International Airport (20 minutes) and the center of Athens (45 minutes).
  • Final agenda (PDF)

Post-conference

Since the beginning 2008 the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) has supported the organization of the Aerial Fire Fighting Conferences. All conferences are documented on a special GFMC conference post:

Conference Partners

Reports of previous AFF conferences:

Please see the web pages of the previous International Aerial Firefighting Conferences, including the conference reports:

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GFMC MEETINGS CALENDAR 2023

Wildfire Management Summit 2023

Sacramento, California, U.S.A., 25-26 April 2023

In the face of a changing climate and the increased frequency, intensity and length of wildfires, the need to effectively mitigate them is becoming increasingly important around the world to prevent the loss of lives, damage to property, infrastructure and ecosystems.

After devastating fire seasons in 2021 and 2022, the challenge in 2023 is unlikely to be tamed without appropriate prevention and management technologies and countermeasures. In 2021, almost 6,000 structures, both residential and commercial, were burned. In 2022, at the time of writing, approximately 48,500 wildfires have impacted 6.2 million acres already this year in the U.S. – gravely impacting human development and communities. Accordingly, numerous U.S states and the federal government are increasing budgets to respond to the growing risk of wildfires to ensure that wildfire agencies are equipped with the latest technologies and tools.

As such, we will explore the latest advancements in technologies that can be leveraged by fire agencies, the importance of bolstering interagency collaboration and international efforts – comparing technologies, tools, techniques, workflows and best practices for wildfire management around the world.

The fourth iteration of Wildfire Technology Management will help bridge the gap between industry, wildfire agencies and academia to better prevent, detect, suppress, and mitigate these destructive wildfires moving forward.

Meet some speakers (extract)

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GFMC MEETINGS CALENDAR 2022

American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting

12-16 December 2022, San Francisco, California, USA

Session B012 – The Role of Fire in the Earth System: Understanding Drivers, Feedbacks, and Interactions with the Land, Atmosphere, and Society 

Call for Abstracts

Deadline: 03 August 2022

Anthropogenic and natural fires are an important component of the Earth system. Geographic location, fuel type, seasonality, and intensity of fire largely determine the sign and magnitude of feedbacks on the Earth system. This session aims to explore links between fire, vegetation, climate, air quality, and humans from the local to the global scale and determines how these interactions will change in a warming world. We encourage abstracts that explore the interactions of fires with the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere using remote sensing, in situ observations, modeling, or an integrated approach with an emphasis on

  • Impacts of fire on weather and climate, atmospheric chemistry, and air quality
  • Role of fires in the carbon cycle and ecosystem functioning
  • Influence of humans on fire (and vice versa)
  • Changing nature of fire over millennia, and predictions for the future

Session Post

Primary Convener

Co-Conveners

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GFMC MEETINGS CALENDAR 2022 

09-10 November 2022, Belfast, United Kingdom

The UK Wildfire Conference “The Human Dimension” will take place in, Belfast. This event will bring together various agencies who work on this topic, with delegates and speakers ranging from professional firefighters, land managers, academics, researchers and government officials. Although a national conference, it will have speakers from around the world, ensuring we learn from what is happening elsewhere in terms of wildfires and their human impact and consequences.

Wildfires continue to be a major threat with devastating consequences, not just for the physical environments they destroy, but also for the lives, livelihoods and, in many cases, homes they put at risk. This event will facilitate the sharing of current best practice in tackling wildfires and managing the serious human impacts left in their wake. It will also showcase emerging themes that have been informed by the best knowledge and experience from the UK and internationally.

The conference will focus on the six sub themes:

  • Communication – between agencies, communities, individuals and government
  • Leadership – who leads the changes required and how
  • Behaviour – managing and changing behaviours
  • Health and Land Management – tackling new and emerging wildfire health and land management issues
  • Demographics – shifting populations and risks impacting wildfires
  • Partnerships – managing relationships across different sectors.

Conference website:

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GFMC MEETINGS CALENDAR 2022 

Wildfire Management Summit 2022

San Francisco, California, U.S.A., 25-26 April 2022

In the face of a changing climate and the increased frequency and power of wildfires, the need to effectively mitigate and manage their start and spread has grown more and more evident. There is a persistent need for emergency managers and firefighters across the United States and the world to be prepared and equipped to respond effectively to the latest disasters to prevent casualties and damage to property, infrastructure and ecosystems.

Images of cities in the Western US blanketed in smoky orange fog in 2020 highlight the impact of fires even to those who might not live directly near areas with major fires. After devastating fire seasons in 2018, 2020 and 2021, the 2022 Fire Season is shaping up to be a challenge as well.

From Europe to Australia to the US, leaders are taking note and acting accordingly. Numerous US states and the federal government are increasing budgets to respond to the growing risk of wildfires. The US federal government spends over $5 billion annually on wildfire management through various agencies including the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, while states like California spent just under over $2 billion in 2021.

The Wildfire Management Summit, taking place in-person on 25-27 April 2022, aims to promote collaboration, coordination and communication across the varied agencies involved in wildfire management throughout the US and the world. Our speakers, events and programs will address the use of innovative strategies and emerging technologies for more efficient wildfire prediction, prevention, detection and suppression. Join us and participate at the in-person summit for interfacing with key government, industry and research personnel across the wildfire space.

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